The Reason it's a Good Friday

When i saw this video at church on Sunday I KNEW it was going to be what I blogged about today. But then Jon Acuff posted it on SCL. And a few days later Matthew Paul Turner posted it too. I thought, “maybe I’m not supposed to post it after all.”

Not to mention the fact it hadn’t changed me like I wanted it to.

You see, when I saw this video on Sunday, it moved me. It shifted my priorities. It changed my perspective. And I thought, I hoped, that it would alter how I looked at my life.

But then Monday came, and things weren’t much different. By Wednesday I was in a funk. I felt sorry for myself all day because things haven’t been happening with my writing projects the way I want them to happen. I compared myself to my peers and wallowed in the fact that every one of them seem to be achieving my goals.

Then I remembered this video and I wanted to punch myself in the face with brass knuckles made of unobtanium.

Funny thing happened Wednesday night though. I got an email from a friend with a few words of encouragement, a friend whose opinion on writing I respect more than anyone else. This friend doesn’t email me often, and he was merely responding to a random email I had sent him a week earlier. But the timing was impeccable…perhaps divine.

Was it God’s way of saying “Bryan, please don’t be miserable”? No, I don’t think so. I think God doesn’t mind us being miserable every now and again, especially when he’s trying to change us and teach us something.

I think it was God’s way of reminding me, “I know you better than you know you, and I know exactly what you need, when you need it. And if I want to, I can make sure you get a random email from the right person with the right words just when it helps the most. So stop pouting and feeling sorry for yourself and trust me with the big stuff too.”

To be honest, I don’t know if God had anything to do with that email or not, but I thanked Him anyway. I thanked my friend too, and if he’s reading this I hope he’s not too freaked out that I think God controls his emails, because I don’t. Okay, maybe just a little.

So, what’s the reason that this is a Good Friday? It’s a Good Friday because we have a God who knows us and loves us. It’s Good Friday because Jesus did the thing that no one before him did and lived after he died, validating everything he said while He was alive. It’s a Good Friday because there’s grace and hope for everyone: from the self-absorbed whiners to the people who really need it.

But don’t take my word for it. I’m just one of those whiners who can’t seem to stop thinking about himself.

Take Zac’s word for it. Despite having cancer and every reason in the world to pout, get angry, and feel sorry for himself, he’s come to the same conclusion I have.

My boss saw this at his church last weekend, so Monday when he came in, it was fresh on his mind. It just so happened that Monday afternoon, we had a man drop by whose 11-year-old daughter has recently been diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer. When that man dropped by, my boss brought him into my office and had me pull this video up. As the clip ended, there was a moment of silence in the office and I had a realization that God had just moved in the life of this father who–barring a miracle–is preparing to surrender his daughter to heaven. Thank You, Jesus, for Your willingness to speak to us so much that you’ll use ANYTHING to do it–even Youtube.

Thanks, Brian. I’ve seen this video posted before, but every time I saw it I was at work, and felt like it was inappropriate to watch it there. I’m not working today, and I had forgotten that I meant to watch the video, so your posting it might have been the only chance for me to watch it, and it was beautiful, and I needed to watch it today. I’m not saying I think God controls your blog ideas, because I don’t. Okay, maybe a little.

(Is it okay if I call you Bry? It just felt right. Y’know, since we’re tight like that, since I’ve been reading your blog for all of several months and we share a paragraph in the back of Jon’s book and stuff.)